1991–2007: Regal Princess
Following delivery, Regal Princess sailed to New York City where she was officially named by the former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 8 August 1991.[8] Subsequently, Regal Princess entered service by joining her sister ship Crown Princess in cruising out of Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean during the northern hemisphere winter, transferring to the Alaskan trade for the summer months.[1] In 1992 the ownership of the vessel was transferred from Astamar to Princess Cruises and she was transferred from the Italian registry to Liberian flag.[9]
In 2000 Regal Princess received a major refurbishment.[10] From the same year until 2003, she spent the southern hemisphere summer months cruising out of Sydney, taking over Princess Cruises' Australian itineraries following the transfer of another former Sitmar ship, the Sky Princess, to P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Sky.[11]
For the 2003 northern hemisphere summer season, Regal Princess was repositioned for cruises on the Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea.[12] While on a repositioning cruise from Copenhagen to New York in August 2003, a number of passengers and crew on board Regal Princess were infected by the Norovirus. The number of infected people on board eventually rose to 217, and the decision was made for the ship to drop planned calls in Greenland and Newfoundland in favour of sailing directly to New York. By the time the ship arrived in New York on 2 September 2003, one day ahead of schedule, only four people on board were still suffering from the virus. The ship was again disinfected and was able to depart on her next scheduled cruise without problems.[13]
In 2004 Regal Princess was planned to join her sister ship A'Rosa Blu (ex-Crown Princess) in the fleet of A'Rosa Cruises, P&O Cruises' brand aimed at the German market, but the transfer was cancelled following the sale of A'Rosa Cruises to Arkona in 2003.[13][14] In late 2006 Regal Princess was due to transfer to the fleet of Ocean Village, but this too was cancelled.[14] Instead, Regal Princess was transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises Australia in late 2007.[2][14]
2007–2020: Pacific Dawn
Following an extensive refurbishment, Regal Princess was renamed Pacific Dawn and christened on 8 November 2007 by Olympic gold medalist Cathy Freeman.[15] Unlike the previous P&O Cruises Australia ships, Pacific Dawn had an all-white hull, to mark P&O's 75th anniversary in Australia.[16] In December 2009, Pacific Dawn was moved to her new home port in Hamilton to allow Pacific Jewel and MV Pacific Pearl to be based in Sydney.
In May 2010, Pacific Dawn went into dry dock in Brisbane for extensive refurbishment.
In November 2014, the ship was dry-docked in Sydney, Australia for the addition of "The Edge" activities (including a zip-line, "crow's nest experience" and rock-climbing wall), a refurbishment of the Waterfront Restaurant and a cosmetic make-over of the pool deck. During this time it was known among the crew as "Salvatore Lupo's private yacht", after the captain who had served on the ship since its launch, making his way from 3rd officer to Captain while serving on the vessel over its history.
In November 2019, P&O Cruises Australia announced Pacific Dawn and sister ship, Pacific Aria, were to be retired in February and April 2021, respectively, with both being replaced in November 2021 by the larger Pacific Encounter which is currently sailing as Star Princess.
2020–2021: Satoshi
The ship was sold in November 2020 to Marshall Islands company Ocean Builders Central Inc. for about US$9.5 million,[21][22] and named Satoshi, after the presumed creator of Bitcoin. In normal times a price of around $100 million would have been expected, but the 2020 Covid pandemic had caused cruise ship prices to collapse, and many were scrapped.[23] It was planned that the ship would be anchored in the Gulf of Panama 22 km from the coast and host a floating community of 2,020 people.[24][25] Residents would purchase their cabins and have access to the ship's amenities. The commercial spaces would be operated by individual companies which, in keeping with the cryptocurrency spirit and technology incubator, would accept Bitcoin for purchases. A 30-minute ferry ride by tender would connect the ship to Panama City.
2022–present: Ambience
On 13 May 2021 it was announced that the new operator would be British start-up company Ambassador Cruise Line, and the ship, to be renamed Ambience, would commence sailings in April 2022 after a refit. Initially she would be based at Tilbury, UK.[30][31] In October 2021, she began her refit at the Viktor Lenac Shipyard near Rijeka.[32] There were some supply-chain issues caused by the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the inaugural cruise, from Tilbury to Hamburg, was rescheduled to 20 April 2022.[33]
On 26 May 2022, Ambience was detained briefly at Tilbury after a Port State Control inspection revealed deficiencies in the fuel system. The ship was released the following day.[34]
